Nice Work, if You Can Get it
Posted Monday, July 07, 2008, 10:54 PM by Lonely Planet
Joining the workforce while on your travels can add a dimension beyond that of museums and beaches. You can befriend locals who think your accent is cool, or learn a language and enjoy the 'lost in translation' brand of jokes that flow fast and steady. It's a chance to earn some money, stay a little longer and get a sense of the locals' life.
In Tel-Aviv, Israel, I accidentally picked up some work translating defamatory comments for a renegade antique collector on his website, and then promptly changed career paths to become a florist. In Brooklyn, New York, I was one of six au pairs for a family of nine children, and in Hermanus, South Africa I dragged privileged teenagers from their tents for camp-fire songs, sometimes when they were sans mascara. In Tampa, Florida, I had a short stint at selling cosmetics from a little stall in the middle of a shopping- mall walkway and learnt that even though people move at an appallingly slow pace in malls, they are not necessarily interested in wrinkle-reducing eye creams.
There's a lot to learn out there.
- Jenni Kauppi
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4 Comments:
I worked in a call centre in Manchester (UK) for two weeks once. We conducted surveys on behalf of business clients, ringing their customers and following up on their purchase/dealings with the client we represented. It sucked a big one! We had to lie about the time the survey would take (telling them 15 minutes rather than the 40+ it usually took), and read out these embarrassing multiple choice options to them for each question. I thought my Aussie accent might provide some novelty factor, but people couldn't give a stuff - they just thought I was a time-waster. Except the Scots - for some reason, they loved to chat endlessly. Isn't there anything else to do in Scotland?! Furthermore, the call centre itself was a clammy little sweat box with the central heating turned up to about 99. Luckily, I soon got a 'real job' proofreading ads for a business magazine company...
True that we can put ourselves on a high link up with locals, most of them feel happy to stay away feeling that its not worth. But there are a few from the lot who are truly interested too.
I've only had great experiences when I have worked on my travels. I really felt I was giving something back to countries and people who gave so much to me.
Call centers are going to be a rough go no matter where you work at them. I used to do 'surveys' that were basically biased questions like 'If you found out the Democratic candidate killed his first family so he could marry his mistress, would this make you more or less likely to vote for them?'. I would call these people and change there mind based on a 'survey' that was clearly propaganda. It always made me feel dirty.
Brad
Walt Disney World For Grownups
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